breaking news overnight. investigators on the record for the first time since releasing their controversial report on what happened to missing malaysia airlines flight 370, explaining what comes next in the search for the vanished jetliner. and this morning, promising to answer questions about the report. family members of those on board say it raises more questions than it answers. we have live, team coverage, coming up. breaking news this morning. pro-russian protesters and ukrainian troops battling it out in the streets as the fight over eastern ukraine intensifies, this as president obama prepares for a high-stakes meeting on how involved the west should get. we're live on the ground with

the very latest. and then, while you were sleeping, what an intense, edge-of-your-seat playoff game. the los angeles clippers in a nail-biter, taking place as nba owners decide what to do about banned clippers owner donald sterling. there's new drama in that, drama in the game, a lot of drama ahead. good morning, everyone. welcome to drama friday. i'm john berman. >> and i'm drama-free christine romans. at least, that's not what john thinks. it's friday, may 2nd, 4:00 a.m. in the east. we begin with the fallout from malaysian government flight 370 report. 17 minutes is how long it took for air traffic controllers to realize the plane had disappeared from radar. then malaysian authorities failed to initiate any kind of search for four hours. overnight, government officials in malaysia held a news conference, their first since releasing those findings. will ripley live from kuala lumpur this morning. what are malaysian authorities saying, will, about that report? >> reporter: christine, they're not saying much overnight about

the report, although we are expecting another, more formal news conference happening possibly within the hour, although that comes with a caveat, that conferences have been called and canceled multiple times here in kuala lumpur. so, we'll just have to wait and see. if it does happen, we'll be closely monitoring what's said. but what has been announced is the new phase of the underwater search off the coast of western australia. specifically, there is a trilateral meeting happening in australia between malaysia, china and australia. they're going to be mapping out a blueprint for the months that lie ahead, this search that could take up to a year and cost $60 million. listen to what the acting transport minister here in malaysia has to say about it. >> we are responsible in our approach and going forward with that lead. we also have to understand the emotions of the family. now, in the event that we do spend money, which is going to be expensive, getting more vessels out there, it's going to take time, which is going to

affect the operations of our present search in the area that we have identified. and thirdly, it's going to impact on the emotional roller coaster of the families of the passengers. that is something that we take into consideration when we put assets into confirming or disproving what has been announced by that particular company. >> reporter: hishammuddin bin hussein there joined by the australian search chief, angus houston, and a new public figure in this from france, the lead investigator for air france 447, jean paul trud yek. they'll be meeting in australia, talking with experts about new technology that could possibly be brought in to search for this missing plane. eight weeks in, christine, still no sign of it. then of course, that report that shows wasted time in the crucial first hours. >> some this morning asking why wasn't the flight 447 chief investigator included weeks ago?

we'll explore all those questions. will ripley, thank you. >> of course, this report matters most to the families aboard flight 370, and this morning, they are not satisfied one bit with the findings of this preliminary report. and atop of that, they're being told to go home. authorities in kuala lumpur announcing assistance centers where the families have been gathering for weeks, they are closing. sar sarah bajc, whose partner was on board flight 370, insists they used those centers as a distraction. >> the average chinese person, when they go home, they will have no other means of communication. so, malaysian airlines is sending everybody home, but they haven't actually created any kind of interim step for them. but you know, i think there's something very important to raise here, is that the timing of this was almost too perfect to distract from the release of the report, because that report raises far more questions than it answered.

it is riddled with discrepancies. it contradicts itself, even between the maps given and the document of the report as well as the list of actions taken. there are actual contradictions between what they've put in those three documents. >> you can tell how unhappy they are. let's talk pore about this. david mckenzie's been spending so much time with the families. he joins us live from beijing this morning. good morning, david. >> reporter: good morning, john, and that's right, the family members have said that they're disappointed in that report. in fact, they called it irrelevant more than once to me. they are in that hotel, but for how much longer, we're not entirely sure. certainly, it appears they've been given a deadline to get out. in the coming hours, i suspect many of them will be leaving. as one man put it to me, he said, well, they don't have much of a choice. you know, it's not as simple as that all of them want to stay. many family members have privately said they wanted to

get out but wanted to keep that strength in their numbers, have that leverage with their dispute with malaysian airlines. and now it appears that the chinese government's on board for them to leave, and when that happens, there's not much they say they can do. so, we do expect them to leave in the coming hours, going back to their homes all across china. malaysian airlines says that it set up an assistance center, that they will be able to talk to significantly chinese authorities, telling family members that they will have a legal team assigned to them if they wanted, from china, that the government here will pick up the tab on that. so, certainly, the officials are trying to say we are still going to be here to answer your questions, to give any assistance you need, but they were very emotional scenes when they did find out that they had to leave. but at this stage, i think that might be also because, in a sense, it's the end of a chapter and it's not the answer they

wanted. they wanted some kind of closure before they left the hotel. >> nothing beginning to approach closure in this. david mckenzie, thanks so much for being with us. all right, the crisis in ukraine front and center when president obama hosts german chancellor angela merkel at the white house today. tougher sanctions against russia could be on the table as the violence in ukraine escalates. cnn monitoring a large-scale anti-terror operation being launched by the ukrainian military, all while russian president vladimir putin calls on kiev to withdraw its troops from southeast ukraine if it wants to keep the peace. for more on today's meeting between obama and merkel, here's senior white house correspondent jim acosta. >> reporter: john and christine, german chancellor angela merkel's visit to the white house comes at a critical time. both the u.s. and germany have tried to apply pressure on russia to try to de-escalate the crisis in ukraine, the u.s. taking the lead on sanctions, while chancellor merkel has tried to use her closer relationship with russian president vladimir putin to resolve the crisis, but it's not clear whether those closer ties

are helping. in a phone conversation that the two leaders had on thursday, putin told merkel that he woonts to see ukrainian troops pull out of the southeastern part of their own country. white house press secretary jay carney called that suggestion preposterous. now, the white house expects both leaders, both president obama and angela merkel, to talk about another round of sanctions against russia. that next round would likely be targeted at russia's economy, key sectors of the economy, such as banking and energy sectors, but that would hurt the german economy as well, so expect that question to come up at a news conference with president obama and chancellor merkel later today. also, one other big question to expect will be about those revelations that the u.s. has been spying on foreign leaders, most notably angela merkel. john and christine? >> our thanks to jim for following that reporting. magical daylight surrounding the white house at all hours. meanwhile, the ukrainian government launching a large-scale military operation to recapture slovyansk as the violence in ukraine escalates

and threatens to erupt. many arrested already in some places. let's get the latest from arwa damon, live from donetsk, where ukrainian riot police have been clashing with pro-russian activists. >> reporter: yeah, the situation most certainly is not looking very well for the government in central ukraine and kiev. in slovyansk, according to the ministry of defense, two helicopters have been shot down, two military officers dead as that operation does continue. the ukrainian government reportedly capable or already having taken back a number of the barricades that the pro-russian capitalp has set up outside of slovyansk. here in donetsk, another building falling when clashes erupted between pro-russian militants and riot police, but the riot police very quickly forced to retreat from the prosecutor's office. we arrived on scene just as the pro-russian militants were ransacking the entire building,

going room to room, breaking down doors, looking for anyone who they believe may be hiding out within, burning photographs of those who used to work there before them, really going through very aggressively, asserting their own authority, saying this was all part of their effort to try to ensure that a referendum did, in fact, take place on may 11th, john. >> all right, arwa, thank you so much. keep an eye on things there because we know developments are moving fast and furious this morning. as for basketball, it seems like nothing these days is easy for the los angeles clippers. it will take a game seven and a win in a game seven to advance in the playoffs. this after they dropped game six to the golden state warriors overnight in heartbreaking fashion. the final score was 100-99. while that was going on, a panel of nba owners met, unanimously agreeing to proceed as expeditiously as possible to oust clippers owner donald sterling from the league, that for his racist comments. now, three-quarters of the owners need to approve his removal.

i guess that smaller panel, by the way, was unanimous in recommending he be removed. the president of the los angeles chapter of the naacp, meanwhile, he's resigned. leon jenkins stepped down for his decision to honor sterling. this happened -- he was going to be honored very soon for his civil rights work. the naacp in los angeles, you know, no longer honoring sterling, but the leader of that group is stepping down. happening now, the east coast cleaning up after this historic flooding. simply, you know, inundated communities. and this morning the rain isn't over. we're breaking down the very latest after the break.

14 minutes after the hour. breaking news out of south korea. two subway trains in seoul colliding. we're getting reports, that's right, over 170 injuries. at least one of these subway cars derailed. we're tracking developments. we're going to bring you updates throughout the morning, but again, the casualty list is

growing. originally, it was 40 people hurt, now it's more than 170. >> you know, i think it goes without saying, this is not a country that needs to be dealing with another transportation disaster. >> no, absolutely. >> all eyes on seoul. two subways crashing. at least 170 people injured. all right, let's move on to news back here at home. one more day of severe storms in the southeast. the worst of the extreme weather has cleared out, but torrential rains are in the forecast today for florida. now, it was once called the sunshine state. i do not believe that applies any longer. >> no, not today, at least. there is historic flooding in the panhandle area, the water not receding enough to start a serious cleanup. many homes and businesses destroyed. local insurance agents inundated with flood claims. two inmates at the county jail in pensacola were killed by a gas explosion. more than 180 others hurt. officials say the facility was flooded with 2 feet of water when the blast ripped through the building.

and look at this. [ screaming ] >> oh, my god! >> oh, my god. [ screaming ] >> i do not think i've ever seen anything like that. >> that's in baltimore. that's, like, right there in baltimore. >> that is incredible video of a retaining wall collapsing, a landslide that really just swallowed up ten cars and that retaining wall. it dropped them on to railroad tracks below. that was in a baltimore neighborhood. wow! that city is suffering its worst flooding in decades. >> i can hardly believe those pictures. flooding also a big problem in parts of pennsylvania. so much rain fell. the schuylkill river actually crested higher than it did during hurricane irene and superstorm sandy. more grim news in mississippi. the death toll in that state from this week's tornadoes rising to 14 with the discovery of the body of a missing boy.

and we're getting new images from the devastation in jackson. at least nine twisters touched down in the state on monday. and look at the flooding they're getting. two rivers are so far over their banks that residents had to use s sea-dos, whatever they are. >> it juwas unbelievable. went to school at 7:00 and saw the mailbox in the yard. there's a papa john's car that's completely flooded. let's get an early look at weather now with jennifer gray. >> john and christine, the big story today still the rain in florida, not in the panhandle, but more in central florida. we could see anywhere from 4 to 6 inches along the coast. that includes daytona beach, all the way down to west palm beach area. central florida, the interior sections could see 2 to 4 inches. that includes orlando, and 1 to 2 up in portions of the panhandle, especially east of tallahassee. temperatures are going to stay

in the low 70s across the southeast, slightly cooler temperatures in place. 69 in d.c. and new york city, not bad for a friday afternoon. as we go through tomorrow, still rain, but it's moving down into portions of south florida now. mostly sunny across much of the country's midsection. just a couple of showers moving into the northeast. temperatures will gradually warm up. look at dallas, 90 degrees by saturday, 74 in atlanta, 79 in memphis, so warmer air moves in quickly over the weekend. john and christine? >> all right, jennifer gray. thanks for filing that report for us. for the first time, the education department has revealed a list of 55 colleges and universities under investigation for how they handle campus sex assault claims. small colleges, state universities, some of the ivys are included. the white house says it's part of an effort to bring more attention to the issue of sexual violence and that there is zero presumption of guilt. >> really shining the spotlight on that this week.

meanwhile, the reports of sexual assaults in the military are up by half, but the pentagon says they are still underreported. in 2013, there were just over 5,000 sex assault claims. the defense department says the uptick likely reflects recent steps to encourage victims to come forward. they say it's not likely an increase in actual incidents. the director of oklahoma's corrections department is recommending an indefinite stay of executions following the botched execution of an inmate earlier this week. according to a timeline report released thursday, clayton lockett died from an apparent heart attack 43 minutes after his attempted execution began and 10 minutes after it was halted. the report also reveals lockett had been tasered by prison staff earlier in the day. formal autopsy results are expected in 8 to 12 weeks. we're learning more this morning about an alleged plot by a minnesota teen to murder his fami family. police say the 17-year-old is an admirer of the columbine killers, kept a detailed journal outlining his plan and was less

than two weeks away from carrying this plan out. police uncovered this plot after receiving a phone tip. they found three fully functioning bombs and numerous firearms in the teen's home and in a storage locker. he faces four counts of attempted murder, also explosives charges. >> and prosecutors say he kept very detailed records and wanted to kill his parents, too. a connecticut teen charged with stabbing his classmate to death inside their school is expected to be arraigned today. 16-year-old christopher plaskin charged with murder as an adult. hundreds gathered wednesday for the wake of his alleged victim, 16-year-old marin sanchez. she is an honor student and president of her class. >> she would have accomplished anything she wanted to do. she was a go-getter. she would never leave anyone behind. she was the greatest person i ever met. >> many of the mourners wearing sanchez's favorite color, purple. police say plaskin confessed to the killing just minutes after it happened. their investigation reports that

sanchez had rejected him recently from an invitation to the prom. >> so sad. we do have a clearer picture this morning of exactly who signed up for obamacare. new data from the white house shows that 28% of the 8 million enrollees are in the 18 to 24 demographic. federal officials say that they are comfortable with that figure, white house officials, mostly, but many analysts say that figure is short of the ideal and might not be enough to keep policy prices down. insurers who are setting 2015 rates right now say that that age data, the mix is a key factor. today general motors heads back to federal bankruptcy court amid a flood of class-action suits stemming from the recent recall of 2.6 million cars because of an ignition switch problem linked to 13 deaths. gm will ask the judge to enforce part of its 2009 bankruptcy that protected the company from lawsuits arising from past accidents, but it might not be that simple. gm now admits to knowing about the problem for more than a

decade before the recall. >> that's a key hearing for that case. >> it really is. all right, amanda knox on the record in a cnn exclusive. in case you missed this overnight, this is really interesting, reacting to her latest italian court conviction. why she says the evidence proves she didn't kill her friend. that's coming up next. every day, people fall. from a simple misstep, to tripping over a rug, to just losing their balance. and not being able to get up from a fall can have

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welcome back. 25 minutes past the hour. amanda knox is speaking out

exclusively to cnn with her murder conviction restored in italy. knox vehemently denies killing her roommate, meredith kercher, telling "new day's" chris cuomo there's no evidence to back up the conviction, and she is determined to see her name cleared. >> i had truly believed that this court was going to find me innocent. no new evidence had been presented, and i did not expect this. and i'm incredibly hurt and disappointed to read what they're saying is true but is so clearly not. and i guess my only hope is that people are going to see all of the flaws that are throughout the entire document that justifies this verdict. >> knox tells chris she is still

haunted by how people perceive her. earlier this year, a court in florence reinstated her murder conviction and sentenced her in absentia to 28 1/2 years in prison. >> such an interesting, interesting decision. all right, we do have breaking news this morning. a very dangerous situation right now on the streets in ukraine. troops and pro-russian protesters, they've been battling it out all night. we'll bring you the latest from the scene, just ahead.

breaking news this morning.

investigators on the record for the very first time since releasing a controversial report on what they believe happened to missing malaysia airlines flight 370. so, what's next in the search? how are families reacting this morning? we're live with every angle of this story. major developments overnight. gunfire in the streets of ukraine, troops trying to take back towns from pro-russian militants, all this happening as president obama meets with a key world leader today about what the west should do next. we are live on the ground with what's happening right now. while you were sleeping, a ' action-packed game between the golden state warriors and l.a. clippers. high drama on and off the court as nba owners decide what to do with donald sterling. we're breaking that down. >> more than a game at this point. good morning, everyone. it's friday, glad to see you, i'm john berman. >> you said it's friday. i'm christine romans.

welcome back to "early start." up first, the new malaysian government report on flight 370. 17 minutes is how long it took for air traffic controllers to realize the plane had disappeared from radar. i find that astounding. then, malaysian authorities failed to initiate any kind of search for four hours, even more astounding. overnight, government officials in malaysia held a news conference, their first since releasing their findings. so, let's go to will ripley, live from kuala lumpur this morning. and will, what are these authorities saying at this point? >> reporter: you know, they haven't said much about the report, other than to say that they feel in the interest of transparency, it was time to release it. and it's interesting, the prime minister told our richard quest in his exclusive interview that he didn't think there was anything on there that was embarrassing to the malaysian government. so, i suppose you could spin the contents of the report in one of two ways. you could look at it and think, 17 minutes, nobody noticed this airliner had disappeared from radar. and then four hours before search planes were dispatched,

that's an unacceptable amount of time. wr you could look at it as there was a lot of confusion. this is an unprecedented event and you can see on the transcripts, the panic level increased, the miscommunication, the thought that maybe the plane's in cambodia, when it certainly wasn't. there were a lot of things happening at once, and at the very least, it showed it was an inefficient response in the initial hours, and there were hours that were wasted, hours when this plane was flying somewhere full of 239 people, and now we're at the point where we are, eight weeks later, we don't know where the plane is. so, that's what brings us to what happened here in kuala lumpur. this overnight press conference with, among other people, the australian search chief, angus houston, his first public appearance here in this city talking about the next phase of the search. take a listen. >> i'm confident that the area in the southern ocean is the right search area, and i'm sure that in the fullness of time, we will find the aircraft in that area. >> reporter: houston joined there by the acting transport

minister and also the lead investigator for air france flight 447, someone new to the mix who's going to help assist with the next phase of this search, the underwater search. and john, they also announced that there's going to be a meeting on monday in canberra, australia, a trilateral meeting with australia, malaysia and china, laying out the path ahead, estimated to cost $60 million and it could last up to 12 months, john. >> this is a turning point here because this is about to enter a new phase, which will take even more time and every step will develop much more slowly. will ripley live in kuala lumpur. thanks so much, will. >> flight 370 families outraged this morning. they are not satisfied with the findings of that preliminary report, and now they're being told to go home. authorities in kuala lumpur announcing assistance centers where the families have been gathering for weeks, those assistance centers will be closing. sarah bajc, whose partner was on 370, insists malaysian officials used the closing of the centers as a distraction. this is what she told cnn's

michael smerconish. >> the average chinese person, when they go home, they will have no other means of communication. so, malaysian airlines is sending everybody home, but they haven't actually created any kind of interim step for them. but you know, i think there's something very important to raise here, is that the timing of this was almost too perfect to distract from the release of the ako report, because that report raises far more questions than it answered. it is riddled with discrepancies. it contradicts itself, even between the maps given and the document of the report as well as the list of actions taken. there are actual contradictions between what they've put in those three documents. >> so, what's next for the flight 370 families? david mckenzie's been spending time with them. he joins us this morning live from beijing. you can hear her frustration. these families, certainly, this is not over for them.

>> reporter: well, christine, it's not over, and it could be just beginning. it's hard to imagine, but with 8 to 12 months, according to australian authorities, to go just to find any kind of evidence, they could be in for a very long wait indeed, but that wait, it appears, is not going to be happening at the hotel where they've spent all these nearly eight weeks. they've banded together, they've made friendships, they've elected leaders, and these family members are now being told to move out. there were emotional scenes here in beijing when they got that news. many of them actually just, i think, realizing that this has gone into a new phase and that the hope they might have had up to this point has dissipated. now the chinese government is also involved. a very big police presence at that hotel. media not allowed inside the hotel walls. and so, it appears in the coming hours, many of the family members will be going out. it also is important to note that some members i've been

speaking to have told me they wanted to leave, that it was just getting too exhausting through these many days of briefings, but there are some others who wanted to stay. but as one man said it, they don't have a choice. >> all right, david mckenzie. thanks for that. the crisis in ukraine, it is dominating the president's agenda today when he meets with german chancellor angela merkel at the white house. tougher sanctions against russia almost certainly on the table, this as the violence in ukraine escalates. cnn right now monitoring large-scale anti-terror military operations being launched by the ukrainian military. and all this is happening while russian president vladimir putin calls on kiev to withdraw its troops from southeastern ukraine, withdraw its troops from its own country if it wants to keep the peace. for more on today's planned meeting between the president, angela merkel, let's get this report from senior white house correspondent jim acosta. >> reporter: john and christine, german chancellor angela

merkel's visit to the white house comes at a critical time. both the u.s. and germany have tried to apply pressure on russia to try to de-escalate the crisis in ukraine, the u.s. taking the lead on sanctions, while chancellor merkel is trying to use her closer relationship with russian president vladimir putin to resolve the crisis, but it's not clear whether those closer ties are helping. in a phone conversation that the two leaders had on thursday, putin told merkel that he wants to see ukrainian troops pull out of the southeastern part of their own country. white house press secretary jay carney called that suggestion preposterous. now, the white house expects both leaders, both president obama and angela merkel, to talk about a new round of sanctions against russia. that next round would likely be targeted at russia's economy, key sectors of the russian economy, such as its banking and energy sectors, but that would hurt the german economy as well, so expect that question to come up at a news conference with president obama and chancellor merkel later today. also, one other big question to expect will be about those revelations that the u.s. has been spying on foreign leaders,

most notably, angela merkel. john and christine? >> all right, should be interesting. meanwhile, the ukrainian government is launching a large-scale operation to recapture the eastern city of slovyansk, as the violence in ukraine escalates and threatens to erupt. let's get the latest forward not arwa damon. she's live from donetsk, where ukraine riot police have been clashing with pro-russian activists. what is happening there, arwa? >> reporter: well, yesterday we saw the pro-russian camp taking over yet another building here in donetsk, the prosecutor's office, clashing with riot police there. kiev coming under harsh criticism for its lack of control over various cities throughout eastern ukraine, launching its own operation in the early hours of the morning to try to at the very least reassert its own authority to a certain degree. according to the ministry of defense, though, two helicopters have been shot down by pro-russian militants.

two soldiers, potentially, possibly killed as well in that effort to try to retake control over the towns. reportedly, the ukrainian military managing to take back around nine barricades, bearing in mind, though, that these are barricades that are in place outside of the cities themselves. the big challenge as the ukrainian government does, in fact, move forward in this military operation is going to be the fact that these pro-russian militants have hold up, have barricaded themselves into various buildings in the very heart of the cities. the potential for urban combat out there, the potential for more bloodshed and violence very much on people's minds, and understandably of great concern. >> absolutely concerning. arwa damon, thank you. still right here in the united states, dramatic, overnight sports news, everyone looking at the los angeles clippers. will they have some dream hollywood ending where they win the nba championship, move on to the next round of the playoffs? well, not yet.

nope. they lost game six in their series to the golden state warriors last night. that game was in oakland. it was a heartbreaking loss for them. 100-99. so, it will take a game seven victory for the clippers to move on. meanwhile, a panel of nba owners met thursday and they unanimously agreed to proceed as expeditiously as possible to oust clippers owner donald sterling from the league for his racist comments. now, three-quarters of the owners will need to vote to approve his removal. meanwhile, the president of the los angeles chapter of the naacp has resigned. leon jenkins stepped down. why? well, you'll remember, the l.a. chapter of the naacp was going to honor sterling for promoting civil rights. >> which, obviously, would be completely inappropriate. >> it would seem an inappropriate honor. the death toll rising this morning as the southeast cleans up from the series of brutal storms. communities torn to pieces or under water. and you know what? there's more rain in the

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good morning, welcome back. one more day of storms on tap for the southeast, one more day. the worst has moved out, but torrential rains in the forecast today for florida, the so-called sunshine state is already swamped. >> we're talking about historic flooding in the panhandle. the water's still not receding enough to start a serious cleanup. many homes and businesses just destroyed. local insurance agents have been inundated with flood claims. two inmates at the county jail in pensacola were killed by a gas explosion. over 180 others were hurt. officials now say that facility was flooded with 2 feet of water when the blast ripped through the building. you've got to take a look at this. >> oh. [ screami ining ] >> oh, my god!

[ screaming ] >> wow. you just witnessed incredible video of a landslide swallowing up ten cars, swallowing up a retaining wall, then dropping them on to the railroad tracks below in a rain-soaked baltimore neighborhood. now, the city suffering its worst flooding in decades. >> i still can't believe this video. >> the way the light poles all slide down. >> where they're standing, how do you know you're safe? the road is falling down! >> i don't know i would be filming. i would be running the other direction. >> you're a journalist. you'd be running right toward it, jumping in to get a better shot. >> i actually am pretty sure i wouldn't. all right, flooding also a big problem in parts of pennsylvania today. so much rain fell, the schuylkill river actually crested higher than it did during hurricane irene and superstorm sandy. big problems. >> yeah, really tough there. more grim news in mississippi. you know, the death toll in that

state from this week's tornadoes is now 14 with the discovery of the body of a missing boy. we're getting new images of the devastation in jackson. at least nine twisters touched down in the state on monday. and look at the flooding. rivers are so far over their banks. residents have to use jet skis and sea-dos to leave their homes. >> it's been kind of crazy. woke up at 7:00 to head to school for a final and saw the water was above our mailbox out in the front yard. there was a papa john's car we saw over there that was completely flooded. >> all right, so, when will any of us get a break here on the east coast? let's get an early look at the weather now with jennifer gray. >> john and christine, the big story today still the rain in florida, not in the panhandle, but more in central florida. we could see anywhere from 4 to 6 inches along the coast. that includes daytona beach all the way down to west palm beach area. central florida, the interior sections could see 2 to 4 inches. that includes orlando. and 1 to 2 up in portions of the

panhandle, especially east of tallahassee. temperatures are going to stay in the low 70s across the southeast, slightly cooler temperatures in place. 69 in d.c. and new york city. not bad for a friday afternoon. as we go through tomorrow, still rain, but it's moving down into portions of south florida now. mostly sunny across much of the country's midsection. just a couple of showers moving into the northeast. temperatures will gradually warm up. look at dallas, 90 degrees by saturday. 74 in atlanta, 79 in memphis. so, warmer air moves in quickly over the weekend. >> i'll say. >> john and christine? >> all right, jennifer gray. thanks for that report. this morning, dozens of colleges across the country facing federal sex assault investigations. an unprecedented report released. what comes next for these universities? that's ahead. and then, a teenager accused of planning a massacre at his high school. there are stunning details in this, folks. police finding bombs, ammunition and a journal detailing the plans.

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[ male announcer ] introducing xfinity my account. available on any device. for the first time, the education department has revealed a list of 55 colleges and universities under investigation for how they handle sex assault claims on campus. small colleges, state universities and some of the ivy league schools are included. the white house says this is part of an effort to bring more attention to the issue of sexual violence and that there is zero presumption of guilt. we're learning more this morning about an alleged plot by a minnesota teen to murder his family and bomb his school. police say this 17-year-old, an admirer of the columbine killers, kept a detailed journal outlining his plan, and it was less than two weeks away from carrying it out. police uncovered the plot after receiving a phone tip. someone had seen him suspiciously entering one of

these storage lockers. they found three fully functioning bombs, numerous firearms at the suspect's home and at that storage locker. he faces four counts of attempted murder and explosive charges. he was going to kill his parents and his sister, according to police, and all of the neighbors, people at the school, even some of his teachers saying they had no suspicion that this kid could have done something like that. he had been plotting it for months. >> obviously, it's a good thing they caught that in time. lucky. behind bars and facing first-degree murder charges. former nfl star aaron hernandez indicted yet again on thursday, and this time it's for assault and battery stemming from a jailhouse fight in february. hernandez has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge in a shooting death last june. no date has been set for arraignment on the new indictments. after taking leave from his mayoral duties and pressing pause on his re-election bid, rob ford has flown to chicago. toronto's troubled mayor, who has admitted to smoking crack in

the past, announced thursday he is going to seek help for a problem with alcohol. ford made the decision following reports of a lewd audio recording and a second alleged video of him smoking crack. ford's brother says he'll spend at least 30 days in treatment. >> hope he gets the help he needs. amanda knox convicted by an italian court of killing her friend over money. and now for the first time, in a cnn exclusive, knox reacts to the latest verdict. that is after the break. ♪

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we must have encountered a temporal vortex. further analytics are necessary. beam us up. ♪ that's my phone. hey. [ female announcer ] the x1 entertainment operating system. only from xfinity. tv and internet together like never before. welcome back to "early start," everyone. amanda knox speaking out for the first time since an italian court reinstated her murder conviction. an exclusive interview with "new day's" chris cuomo, knox vehemently denies killing her roommate, meredith kercher, insisting there is no evidence to back up her conviction or the claims of italian prosecutors. >> i had no criminal record, so i am not the type of person who's going to violently kill someone for any reason. and furthermore, i had saved up

to go to italy. i was not in need of stealing any money, unlike rudy guede, who was a known thief, who was a known burglar, who did this on a regular basis to survive. and why they would think that i was a thief, when in meredith's own purse, there are rudy guede's fingerprints. >> wow. knox says she is still haunted by how people perceive her. she believes she will ultimately be cleared. earlier this year, a court in florence reinstated her murder conviction and sentenced her in absentia to 28 1/2 years in prison. "early start" continues "early start" continues right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com breaking news overnight. investigators on the record for the first time now since releasing their controversial report on just what happened to

missing malaysia airlines 370, explaining what comes next in the search now for the vanished jetliner. we have live, team coverage ahead. we have major, developing news to tell you about. pro-russian protesters and ukrainian troops battling it out in the streets, this as the fight over eastern ukraine intensifies, and president obama prepares for a high-stakes meeting on how the west should be involved, whether the west should be involved. we're live on the ground with the very latest. while you were sleeping, an intense, edge-of-your-seat playoff game between the golden state warriors and the los angeles clippers. the nail-biter taking place as nba owners decide what to do about banned clippers owner donald sterling. we are bringing you all the game drama ahead. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> and i'm john berman. what day is it? >> it is friday! >> it is friday. may 2nd, 5:00 a.m. in the east. we begin with the fallout from the malaysian government's flight 370 report. 17 minutes. 17 minutes, that's how long it